Disclaimer: I do not own any of the POTO characters. They belong to Leroux, Kay and ALW, from whom I have borrowed in order to write my story. However, the plot and the characters of Léandre, Gaspard, Etienne, Pierrick, The gendarme Captain, and Dr. J. Morel are mine
Knight captures Queen
From the window Christine saw Erik arrive and descend the horse as it still moved. She run out of the house and jumped on him grabbing his neck and pulling him to her. Erik buried his face in her hair. Neither of them could speak, nor cry, they just held on to breathe each other in and reanimate their souls. Their bodies melted into each other.
"Raoul found you" she said, her face buried in his chest.
He stroked her hair. "We found each other…I had already escaped when we collided. It is a long story"
"He told me what Léandre had done"
"He should not have worried you Christine, I am fine" Erik wondered just how much Raoul had told her.
"Raoul left this carriage for us when he went to get you out" She pointed out the day carriage by the side of the house. The horses whinnied as if they understood they were being talked about.
"I see"
Christine separated herself a little from Erik and looked up at his face. "He said that with the Chagny crest on the side we should have no problem. He also left these papers"
Erik took the sealed envelope and placed it in his pocket.
"We'll use it. You'll be more comfortable on the ride" he reluctantly admitted to himself how much he owed the vicomte.
She noticed the droop in his shoulders. "You look so exhausted Erik. You need to rest" She stroked his hair placing it behind his ears. He looked better than she had expected.
"There's no time for that my love. We have to leave quickly" Erik wasn't sure how the vicomte would react to the murder of his cousin. He had to make sure they were not around to find out.
"How soon do we leave Erik?"
"As soon as we are packed"
He looked down at her, his eyes questioning. "It will not be easy Christine. Will you follow me?" He recalled his doubts of the previous days. They lingered in his mind but he knew he would not voice them.
"You don't have to ask me that" she met his eyes with determination.
"I do because we have to leave France. Christine, you will be leaving everyone you know"
"Will we be together?
"Always" Erik brushed his lips against hers. Christine softened her lips so he could deepen the kiss but Erik broke away and caressed her cheek. She felt a little disappointed.
"Then where ever you go; I will follow you."
"Christine, let us go in and tell Madame"
Madame helped him pack the carriage. They were both quietly working just like they had done with many of his projects under the Opera House. Erik couldn't think of anything to say but had the desire to say something profound and lasting. He didn't want the woman he thought of as his parent to forget him. The plan was for them to follow soon but so many things could happen. The thought that he might never see her again was making him feel sick inside.
Lucette came out with a familiar plain wood box and went to place it inside the carriage.
Erik's hand stopped her. "No! That's over"
Her eyes were full of questions but the corners quivered. He was clean? Without a sanatorium? "But how Erik?"
"You do not want to know" His eyes did not meet hers.
A lump formed in her throat and she shivered. Lucette looked up to heaven. With a smile on her face she brought the box back inside the house.
Christine was bringing out more packages but had seen the interchange looked upward and offered a short prayer with promises of many more to come.
"We have to go" He said to Christine.
Lucette walked up to her boy, now a man, and made the sign of the cross on his forehead. She kissed and hugged him. "Go with God Erik. I love you". He let himself be hugged and kissed but her words nearly broke his resolve.
"I love you Maman" He said looking at the ground. He had never called her that before and her tears overflowed and mixed with his in an embrace.
She turned to Christine and they hugged each other. She blessed her in the same way she had blessed Erik.
Meg and Christine cried openly and held each other as if they would never see each other again.
"Come Christine, we have to go now"
Erik helped Christine to her seat inside the carriage and took his post at the front.
"When we are situated I will send you word with Nadir. Then you can both come out and join us. I will not allow my family to disintegrate"
Lucette smiled only her Erik could phrase it quite like that. "We will be ready Erik"
Meg run up to him and hugged him. He stiffened a little but allowed it. He steered the carriage away from the house. Christine pulled her face to the window tears freely falling. She made no attempt to dry her tears. "I will miss you all so much" she waved out the window as he pulled on to the street.
Lucette and Meg stayed out until the carriage disappeared around a corner.
"Come Meg let's start to pack. I have two adolescents traveling on their own; one seventeen and one thirty-four".
Meg giggled picturing Erik's reaction to being referred to as an adolescent.
"As soon as they send for us we have to be ready to part" Madame smiled at her daughter and kissed the top of her head. Getting Meg away from the lingering Opera House atmosphere would be a very good thing indeed. The two women put their arms around each other and returned to their home.
End of Game 3
A/N: Two more chapters to go. We are almost there.
